Hug of Death
by Hannah Lynn McDonald
Summary: Henry finally answers Lucas' request for a scarf. Written for Kythe42.


**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.**

* * *

"Lucas."

"Yeah?" The assistant looked up from his report.

"You had asked if you may borrow one of my scarves -"

"Oh, yeah – about that, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, it just seemed like a good idea and then you were busy and I don't know why I had to ask you then – I could have done it some other time, any other time; not at all would have worked to – and the scarves are yours, I know. I suppose they're better than other alternatives, I mean you could carry around rings or something like that and go walking thousands of miles; at least scarves change colours – and yeah, don't need to mention it and..." He slowly trailed off.

Henry took a deep breath, feeling as if he did so for Lucas. "I am certain that I will regret this, but yes."

Lucas blinked at him for a moment, and Henry held out an old scarf of his.

"Um...excuse me, but what?"

"Yes, you may have one of my scarves."

"What? Really? I can have this?" He dropped the clipboard he held onto the table and jumped up, tightly wrapping his arms around his boss' neck. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Henry instinctively jerked back as his assistant jumped up from his seat and wrapped himself around the doctor. His hands came up to push the younger man away, but Lucas only held tighter to him.

"Lucas...please, let go." He vaguely heard Lucas apologising, saying that this was his only chance and that he had to thank him properly. "Lucas! I can't breathe!"

"I know you don't like hugs, but..."

Henry didn't try following his assistant's newest train of conversation. For a moment, he thought the lights were dimming in the morgue, but then he realised that his vision was fading out. As he collapsed, he faintly heard Lucas stopping mid-sentence. There was a 'crack', and then all was empty.

* * *

"Henry, it's the middle of the day and you have no case – _what_ did you do to yourself?"

He sighed, pulling a jacket on. "I gave Lucas on of my old scarves."

"And? He didn't like it so he murdered you?"

"No, quite the contrary. He hugged me. Oh, and would you be kind enough to stop at the morgue? I would like to reach Lucas before anything worse happens."

"He hugged you? And then you died from what? Henry, you're not making any sense."

"That is precisely what happened."

Abe waited for an answer, pulling up in front of the offices. "Wait – that's it? He hugged you then you died from being hugged? I've heard of a lot of allergies – but not one to hugs..."

"No, I was unable to breathe and must have hit my head falling." He sighed and stepped out of the car and straightening his coat. "Thank you, Abraham."

"Yeah, it's fine. Just, try not to die again, alright? I've got inventory to take care of and can't be distracted. Not to mention – first of being tickled, now of hugs? There's got to be a limit to how much really weird deaths you can have."

"Yes, of course, Abraham – I will try not to impose." He shook his head slightly, turning to enter the building and find Lucas.

* * *

"Lucas?" He carefully looked around the silent morgue. While he wasn't certain that his assistant would even still be here, he hoped that the younger man hadn't told anyone yet. "Lucas, are you here still?"

"Hey, Boss! You're a little late – not that that would matter. I mean, it's entirely your business and your personal life and I've no business prying...and I'm shutting up now."

Henry frowned. "...I am late?"

"Well, yeah – I mean, it's the middle of the afternoon, you were kind of supposed to come in this morning?"

"Lucas, are you _sure_ that I wasn't in here earlier today?"

"Yeah, of course – I mean you just came in. Of course, there was the weirdest thing earlier." He turned fully away from the desk where he was working on paperwork and faced the Doctor. "I mean, it felt like you had been here all day; and then you gave me a scarf – weird, I know – and then I hugged you – not that I would do that in person, of course; that would be awkward, very – and then you died. I mean, somehow I killed you by hugging you... That's just impossible, right? Of course, even if that weren't impossible, then you disappeared; and dead bodies don't just disappear, so I knew something was wrong. Well, I didn't at first, but I figured out that it must have been a weird hallucination or something and that you just didn't come it – but it's out of my system now! I did some tests and nothing turned up, so... Yep! All perfectly normal."

Henry sighed, having only grasped the general thread of his assistant's rambling. "Then the scarf must have disappeared as well..."

"Yeah. Hallucinated scarves probably wouldn't look good anyway."

"Hm. Indeed." He frowned as Lucas stretched his hands, stilling the shaking. "Lucas? Are you alright?"

"What? Me? Yeah, sure." he smiled a little. "It was just really real and you were being nice and then I killed you and there was a crack and then you stopped breathing and then you disappeared and -" He took a deep breath. "But it was all in my head – it would make it easier for murderers though, having the body disappear..."

Henry grimaced. "Quite." He straightened up slightly and turned away from his assistant, stepping towards his office. Under his breath, he muttered, "Perhaps the next scarf should be left in a box..."

"Wait – what? 'Next' scarf?"

Henry froze.

"You're just saying that as a mental note, right? Just rambling? You don't ramble, right... Then it actually happened?"

The Doctor slowly turned around, unsure of what would happen now – of what he wanted to happen. "Lucas..."

"It happened! It happened? Then you did give me a scarf! And then it disappeared – and you disappeared! And then you died. Well, you died first and then disappeared – and oh, wow. I killed you. I am so sorry – I killed you! I huged you – you can die from hugs? Are you some kind of alien? Who's allergic to hugs? Or to me? Or to humans! OH, that would be cool – but I killed my boss! That can't be good – I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to. I mean, you're not that bad of a boss, you're actually pretty fun to work with – it's just that you were being nice and gave me a scarf and -"

"Lucas!"

His assistant's mouth snapped shut and Henry breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you. And no, I am not an alien. I just happen to be unable to remain dead."

Lucas stared at him for a second and then jumped up. "Wow! That's amazing! Have you always been this way? When did it first happen? What's it like? Is it like a superpower? Have you seen others like this? Have you ever wanted to be a – no, never mind. Of course you're not a villain. Oh! Maybe your scarves are some sort of emblem or something!"

Henry started smiling, slightly shaking his head. "Lucas."

"Yes?"

"Kindly keep this discovery to yourself."

"Of course."

Henry nodded, turning and walking towards his office to change into a lab coat.

"Hey, Doc?"

"Yes, Lucas?"

"It would make for a really realistic death scene in a movie! I mean, no make-up or Photoshop, or effects, or..."

"Lucas!"

* * *

_AN: The point of this likely got lost, for Lucas is a character I find extremely hard to write just as he is. And then I kept writing myself into dead-ends that were character-correct, so... C'est voila! Thank you for taking the time to read this. Gramercy, and God bless!_


End file.
